Catching Up Part 4!

This is the Graduation announcement we sent out! :) Kati took our pictures, and I wrote the information out. She then put it all together into this awesome announcement! Thanks sister!


And to the Month of May!

Bekah and her very bestest friend Cairn! :) Cairn didn't stay the night, but the Strattons were over long enough that we had bath time and bed time.

The beginning of this month started out so wonderfully, it has stayed cooler for so much longer this year than in the last couple, and I LOVE it. :) I went to the Junior High (where I applied, but didn't get an interview - but my friend got the job there - Yay Erin!) for observations to write about and put into my portfolio, and I also went to Tucson High School which is vastly different from Flowing Wells (FW is the only HS in the district - small district - but Tucson High is one of a couple of High Schools in the HUGE TUSD).

Daryn was an awesome man and took care of Rebekah all this last weekend so that I could finish putting together my portfolio that was due yesterday. Sunday he did the same. I was bummed on Sunday b/c Ammon was calling (yay Mother's Day) at the time that we have church. I wanted to ditch, but Daryn said we should go, and he was right. We get lovely letters from Ammon every week, so I'll just have to wait until Christmas to talk with him again.

Yesterday I taught my final lesson to students, (I gradually worked up to teaching 4 of my teacher's 5 classes, and then gradually turned the classes back to her in the last couple weeks) and had my final review with my supervisor and cooperating teacher. Then I spent the afternoon frantically putting the finally touches on my portfolio, ran home from school to print it all off, Once that was finished, I had to pick up Rebekah (Daryn had to go to work, and the meeting I was going to would go over the time I was supposed to go get her), and then run to the University to attend my very last Student Teaching seminar and turn in my portfolio - my very last assignment as an undergraduate! :)

For the next 2 weeks, I'll go to the school I'm at on and off to see how they do review and finals, as well as final grade assignments.

Thursday, May 13 is my graduation ceremony,
Friday, May 14 we're taking Daryn's parents to the Gila Valley Temple Open House,
Saturday, May 15 is grad parties with friends,
Sunday, May 16 we'll be in Phoenix for Christin's graduation party,
Monday, May 17 is a HUGE party in Tucson at Brandi Fenton Park 6-8 PM. (You should come!) We're doing a Pot Luck, and there are about 7 people who are graduating and inviting people to the party. We'll be taking lots of pictures, there's a little splash pad and a playground, so perfect for all us families with little ones.
Tuesday, May 18 is Daryn's graduation ceremony.

FW ends school on the 20th, so I'm not sure which days I'll attend and which days I won't. Some of the kids have already asked that I sign their Yearbooks, which makes me feel totally loved! :)

Friday, May 21 is Rebekah's last day in day care! :) I am SO excited to be a full time Mommy this summer! We're going to have such a blast with our friends the Strattons, as well as other families that we're look forward to getting to know better. (You know, since I can now go to church playgroup, and other daytime activities now.)

Saturday, May 22 is our graduation party in Phoenix. (You should come!) We're having it at Daryn's parents' house. It's just an open house (2-4 PM, but we won't kick you out) setting with some tasty snacks.

Sunday, May 23 is the Gila Valley Temple dedication - we are SO looking forward to this! It will be Daryn's first time witnessing a dedication. :)

Also, probably at the end of the month, or the beginning of June, I might help a friend move to Utah. He will drive the UHaul, and I will drive his car, with Bekah to keep me company. Since he's going to SLC, I'll end up at my parents' house, and then hang there for a while and fly back when I want to. Daryn came up with that all on his own! It was very sweet of him to think of a way for us to help our friend and for me to see my family! :) We'll see though. There's a family reunion in July that I'm REALLY looking forward to.

After that, I'm not sure what we'll be up to, but I figured that since I'm going to fill my next couple weeks with submitting applications everywhere I can, and trying to clean my poor neglected apartment that I'd get a little ahead of myself. :)

Oh, also - we've been looking at buying a house, but we can't get one until I know the location of my job. We put an offer on a short sale, thinking it would take months, but the bank moved VERY quickly and wants about $2300 more than we offered. Our Realtor is kindly ignoring the request until they remind him of it, and we're hoping that will give us the time for me to find a job. (PS if you live in Arizona and want to help me get a job, please vote Yes on Prop 100 on May 18th, b/c schools might not have a position for me without this money.)

Other than that... Daryn came home fairly discouraged last night. :( They want to move him to a different project - one that requires NO technical knowledge. They SAY it's because he knows his way around all the buildings, but Daryn says that it's a lame excuse - the maps are easy to read and follow. He's hoping to talk to his boss tonight and convince them not to transfer him, but we'll see. Please say a little prayer for him, that the best will happen!

I hope you all are doing well, and congratulate all of you that got this far!! I'm almost finished with catching up, I promise!

SO Grateful!

This week, I was looking at either paying my tithing or paying my bills.

Yesterday I made arrangements with the daycare to hold next week's payment until after Daryn's paycheck came. They would have to hold it for a whole week, and they were reluctant to do so, but we've never been late before, so they said they would do it for me. I figured that by postponing the daycare payment until our next paycheck (which only comes on the 15th and 30th of each month... a very new concept for us - we've always had weekly or bi-weekly checks) that I could pay our full tithing, and deal with the next set of bills when they came. Perhaps instead of paying the credit card down to zero like we usually do, we could leave a little on it and wait to pay that. After all, Rebekah will only be in daycare for 2 more weeks, and that will free up a good amount of money for us. Sure, there would be some interest we usually avoid, but I REALLY wanted to make sure that we were putting Heavenly Father first.

I got online to check my account and make sure I'd done all my math right, and wouldn't have to put off paying anything else, and guess what came in today? Our Federal Tax return! But only AFTER the exercise of my faith, and the choice to pay my tithing first!

So remember - the Lord always provides a way. :)

I know I haven't been on here at all this semester, but it's student teaching, and it's crazy. My portfolio is due Monday, and after that I will be filling out applications like crazy for a week or two, and then I'll tell you about our adventures and post pictures. This summer I get to be a REAL stay at home mom! Not even a single class. I am SO excited!

Catching Up Part 3!

April:
- Daryn bought a truck! He was dying waking up in the middle of his "night" to take me to work and Bekah to daycare. It's worked out very nicely. (Did I forget to mention earlier that he works 4:30 - 1:30?)
This is one of the first ponytails that I have managed to get into Bekah's hair. :) It's finally long enough! Yay!

- Spring Break!
Rebekah and I went to story time at the library with our friends Carrie and Cairn, and also to the Zoo! :)

On our way into the zoo, two women were walking out with some children, and they thought we looked adorable so they told us we really needed a picture and asked if we had a camera on us. We did! :) So they were very nice and took our picture for us.


- Phoenix trip for General Conference, and visiting with Mom Pike and the kids, since she brought them down for their Spring Break

- Easter! With an awesome celebration at Kenny's house with lots of family. :)

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this. Shame on me! I DO have a recording of Bekah's first Easter egg hunt on my video camera though. I will look into uploading it.

She has a talent for finding interesting places to fall asleep!


Where's Bekah?? (This is the futon she slept on for a few months.)


There she is! We played like this for probably an hour or more. :) She LOVED it!

Yay for Clearance at Babies R US! I just LOVED this dress and had to get it for her, especially after I saw that it was 70% off! (Headband and bow were things we already had.)


- Heidi's Wedding, and Daryn on the Upper Salt River with his Dad, Steve, Chris, and his old scouting friends, including Bagel.
Gary - Daryn's dad - is on the right. I'll have to ask Daryn to name other people...
Ryan is on the far right. He and Daryn have been friends for a VERY long time, and he was our best man at the wedding. I'm glad that even though he and Daryn get very busy, they still have a chance to visit every now and then.
Steve!
Chris!
Gary's in the foreground. The girl in this picture is Emily. She's the daughter of Daryn's old scout master (the one in charge of this trip). When Daryn and her dad were rafting down the Colorado River in 2005, Emily and I were traveling through Europe together as Arizona Music Ambassadors. It was a pretty cool trip! We didn't even know each other at the beginning, but Emily's family went to church with my friend Kat's family, so Kat introduced me to Emily, and then Emily and I discovered that she had known Daryn (my boyfriend at the time) for quite a while b/c of her dad and brother being involved with scouting like Daryn and his dad. :)

- A job fair for teachers. I got some very good ideas as to where I was going to apply, but not much more than that.

- an interview at a charter school. The owner was INTENSE and I will never work for her.

Home again in our favorite place to sit!